Former AWB boss banned, fined over Iraq scandal

Former AWB head Andrew Lindberg will pay a $100,000 penalty and has accepted a ban from corporate life until September 2014 over his role in the Iraq oil-for-food scandal that engulfed the wheat exporter.

Victorian Supreme Court Justice Ross Robson this morning gave approval to a deal between the corporate regulator and Mr Lindberg in which he admitted four breaches of his duties as a director of the AWB.

Former managing director and board member of AWB Limited Andrew Lindberg leaves the Supreme Court in Melbourne after appearing for his role in the Oil-For-Food corruption scandal. Photo: PAUL ROVERE

The breaches related to Mr Lindberg's failure to inform the AWB board of matters related to the company's relationship with the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein and details of allegations put to him by an UN inquiry into the oil-for-food scandal in 2005, following the fall of the Hussein regime.

Justice Robson said he accepted the proposed penalty, although it was "at the upper end of the range".

Speaking outside the court, Mr Lindberg said he was relieved the long-running legal stoush was at an end.

"I accept completely the judgment of the court," he said. "It's been a long ordeal, six and a half years.